


Happy Uncle's Day

by Edward_or_Ford



Series: Unexpected AU [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, Sibling Incest, pinecest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 15:58:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12962976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edward_or_Ford/pseuds/Edward_or_Ford
Summary: Cassie decides her uncle deserves to be treated to just as nice a day as any father gets.





	Happy Uncle's Day

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is an “inbetweequel”, taking place over a decade after the events of the final chapter of “Unexpected”, and a little over a year before “Coming Out”. It is not necessary to have read either fic before this one: in fact, it would be kind of interesting to get feedback from anyone who reads this and has not read the stories that came before.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …_

Uggggghhhhhh shut up shut up shut up just wanna sleep shut up shut up  _shut up SHUT UUUUPP!!!_

…  _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …_

Oh … wait a minute … unnnnggggghhhhhh aw man is it time to wake up already?

…  _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …_

I reach out to the top of my desk where my tablet is leaning on its charging stand. My loud, really annoying, really  _stupid_ tablet!! It is  _not_  my fault that I set the alarm for 6:30 on a Sunday morning. It’s the dumb tablet’s fault! Right?

I grab the screeching pad and flop back onto my pillow. Holding it above my face, I point my bleary eyes in the general direction of the device.

… _. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP …_

I start swiping the complex unlock pattern, and I’m failing miserably. Mom has been making me be all “responsible” for getting myself up since the school year started last fall. Boo! I’m only in Grade 6! I’d rather stay a kid! I figured out pretty quick back then that if it was too easy to turn off the alarm, I’d just fall asleep again. So I had to make it harder for myself.

After two failed attempts, though, this is now really starting to suck. C’mon, Cassie! I blink a few times and actually focus on the screen before I try once more.

…  _BEEP BEEP BE-_

I manage to finally get it to shut up, and then none-too-gently I let the darned thing fall to the mattress beside me. Sure enough, I’m awake now. And I’m feeling really tired and grumpy. Today isn’t a school day. I wish I could remember why I wanted to set this alarm on the weekend! What dumb reason-

But now I remember. And I’m not grumpy anymore!

It’s Uncle’s Day! Well, it’s really Father’s Day, I suppose, but I’ve never celebrated it before because … well, because I don’t  _have_  a father. A bunch of kids in my class don’t have fathers who live at home with them, but every one of them at least sees their dad every so often. I’m not that lucky. I’ve never met my dad, I don’t even know what he  _looks_  like. It’s always made talking about Father’s Day at school a little weird.

But I’ve got UncleDip! And he’s a really  _great_  uncle! Better than some poophead in California I’ve never laid eyes on, that’s for sure! And since there’s no official “Uncle’s Day”, I decided on my own that this year UncleDip would get the same treatment that any of my classmates’ fathers would get. Better, even!

Now suddenly full of energy, I spring up, pushing back the lightweight sheet. It was kind of a warm, sticky night, what with the summertime heat in New Jersey starting up. Is it really already the middle of June? Even with the fan blowing at full speed, sleeping is going to get really uncomfortable soon. I wish I had an air conditioner in my room! They don’t have it at school either, it’s so gross- feeling! Just one more week of school until summer vacation, though. I have a geography report that I still need to finish. I wonder if Stephanie still needs help with hers? She’s going up to New York City with her family next week. I wonder if she’ll go see any art museums? I’ve always wanted to go to th-… Then I shake my head. Distractions! Why can’t I keep my dumb brain on track? Mom says she was like this at my age, too.

After I push my glasses onto my face, I quietly open the door to my room and slip into the hall, just a couple of steps away from the apartment’s main living space. My goal is to serve breakfast in bed for UncleDip. But it’s going to be hard, because he’s kind of a light sleeper. Usually I end up waking him when I’m up and about before him, even if I’m trying to be quiet.

But this morning I’m in luck! As I peek around the corner to spy on the pull-out sofa, I see Mom is sleeping there instead of UncleDip! Her long hair is strewn all over the place, including a bunch stuck inside her wide-open mouth. She’s so funny, even in her sleep! I wonder for a second why she took her turn sleeping out here. Sometimes Mom insists (even when UncleDip argues) that he stay in her room to get a good night’s sleep if he’s getting up for work early, but I know he isn’t working today. For the zillionth time, I wish that we could afford an apartment with three bedrooms instead of two, so the two of them didn’t have to split time in the only private room other than mine. It’s not fair to either of them.

Ah whatever! All I know is Mom sleeps like a rock. I can easily make breakfast for UncleDip out here now! Heck, it won’t matter whether I bother Mom or not, cause even if I do wake her, she’ll just help me!

I open up the fridge and cupboards and start cooking. I’d like to fry some bacon, but the smell would probably be a giveaway. It doesn’t take too long before I’m ready to go with a big plate filled with pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast. I add another smaller plate with more pancakes for myself, and I arrange it all on a plastic tray with a glass of milk and some syrup. I carefully maneuver my way past Mom, who is still snoring away, and quietly sneak to the end of the hallway. The door to the bigger bedroom is closed, but I manage to turn the knob without upsetting my tray, and silently I take a look into the room.

The open window inside does little to fight against the crappy stagnant air. UncleDip is sprawled on his back, a sheet pulled up over his bare tummy. After carefully putting the tray down on the top of Mom’s dresser, I ease the door closed again, then tip-toe my way around to the far side of the bed so I can get beside him. Then I lean over and hover close to his ear.

This is going to be good! I think, laughing to myself.

“Happy Uncle’s Day!” I shout loudly.

I don’t even all three words out before he screams and thrashes in that awesome way that only my favorite uncle can do. He sits up so fast, his arm hits my shoulder, knocking me off balance and sending me stumbling to the floor. It doesn’t stop me from giggling hysterically, though, and as I start to pull myself back up to my feet, UncleDip is gasping for breath and looking around wildly. Then he focuses on me, and I love how big his eyes get when he’s not ready for one of my grand entrances!

“Cassie … what the heck? …” he pants.

“Good morning, UncleDip!” I squeal, bouncing up and down excitedly. “Today’s your special day! Who says only fathers get pampered today?” I run over to the dresser and carefully pick up the tray. “Breakfast is served! You deserve it on Uncle’s Day!” I proclaim, gingerly carrying the tray over to his side.

“Uhh … okay …” UncleDip says, a sheepish smile forming on his face as he rubs his eyes. He starts sitting up, then stops. “Uncle’s Day, huh?” he says, eyeing me warily now. He sees my tray, and it’s nice of him to scoot back against the headboard and pull the sheet up around his waist so I have a place to put the food down on his lap. Which is exactly what I do, with a dramatic flourish. “Woah!” he exclaims when he sees what I’ve made for him. “Um, wow … this looks great! Thanks, Cass!”

I lean forward and give him a kiss him on the cheek and a hug around his neck. “You’re welcome, UncleDip!” Then I climb up and flop down beside him, grabbing my plate of pancakes from the tray. He coughs a few times and wiggles over to make more space for me, yanking with one hand at the bedsheet that I’ve just sat down on top of. He’s jiggling the tray a lot. “Pass the syrup would ya? And watch out for the milk!” I exclaim, seeing it slosh dangerously close to the rim.

“Oops! Heh heh,” he says, then he steadies the milk and hands over the Aunt Jemima. I pour a bunch out and pass the bottle back, carve out a forkful of pancakes, and stuff it into my mouth as I lean back and over onto my favorite uncle’s shoulder.

I look up at him. “Aren’t you gonna eat, UncleDip?”

He swallows and clears his throat. I hope he’s not coming down with a summer cold. “Yeah …  okay,” he agrees. Hs starts digging in himself, I’m getting jostled around, but I don’t care. “Mmm! This is … pretty  _good!”_  he says, mouth partly occupied by eggs. “Did your Mom help you with all this?”

“Nope!” I say proudly, stealing a mouthful of his milk. “I did all of this myself! Mom didn’t even wake up the whole time.” Then I remember something, as I look up to the closed door. “She hasn’t come in yet. I’ll bet she’s still asleep! And it was so funny, the way she was sleeping, with her hair all over the place in her face!” I put my plate aside. “You’ve got to see this, UncleDip! Just come out real quiet out to the living room and you’ll see!” I scramble off the bed and scurry to the door.

But when I look back, he’s still sitting where he was, tray on his lap. “Hey … we should just let Mom sleep all right? It wouldn’t be nice to wake her up.”

I snort loudly. “Wake her up? Yeah right, UncleDip! She sleeps through anything!”

He shifts, arranging the tray on his lap. “Look, I’ve seen Mabel looking goofy lots of times. Let’s … Let’s just eat our breakfast, okay?”

“What gives?” I whine, marching back to the bed. “It’ll only take a second. You can get finish eating after you see her!” I reach over and start grabbing the tray.

“No!” UncleDip barks out. I recoil and stumble back, surprised at the way he snapped at me. He closes his eyes and sighs. “Cass, I’m sorry,” he says, sounding apologetic. “But … I  _can’t_  get up right now.”

I cannot fathom why this is an issue. “Why not?” I ask, genuinely confused.

“Because …” he says as his cheeks bloom brightly, and he looks at a spot on the wall beside me, “… I’m not …  _wearing anything_ right now.”

I feel my own face get hot in an instant. “Oh!” I peep. It’s completely normal for UncleDip to casually walk around in just his undershorts. For him, it’s his pajamas, and it’s what he’s always worn to bed. So I’m completely unprepared for this new mental picture. Against my will, my eyes drop to look in the direction of what’s beneath the sheet and the tray on his lap. Flinching, I then force my attention downwards, where for the first time I notice a pair of his boxers down on the floor at the foot of the bed. I wheel around to stare at the corner of the ceiling. I can’t really handle how weird this feels! Why is this so awkward? I was sitting right beside him and he was … naked! Ew!!

I can hear UncleDip is still squirming with the tray on his lap. “Look, it was really hot in here last night, and … I sure wasn’t expecting you to come in here this morning … so …” His explanation trails off. “Look … why don’t you just go back to your room for a minute? I’ll get dressed, and then we can go sneak out and laugh at your Mom. All right?”

Sounds good! I’ll do anything to end this. “Okay!” I hear my own voice say, then I bolt. I’m not really careful about being quiet, and the door closes loudly behind me.

As I reach my room, I hear Mom groan. “Is that you, Dip Dop?” she mumbles. I hear her making “bleyah” noises, presumably as she pulls her hair from her mouth.

I smile and roll my eyes, despite being grossed out just a few moments ago. “No Mom, it’s me,” I reply, leaning into the living room. Mom’s an amazing sight in the morning, I’ll give her that! “Nice bed head you got there!” I tease.

Mom sticks out her tongue and blows a big raspberry at me as she pulls away the last strands from her face. “You besmirch me, Mini-me! You and that short hair of yours!” she grunts tiredly. “Where’s your sense of style? Your flair for the dramatic? Huh?”

It’s impossible to not laugh. “Mom! You’re so weird!”

“You know it, Junior!” she replies lazily, winking and firing fingerguns at me while staggering to her feet. I shake my head at her. Even though she’s a “grownup”, she’s never seems to try to look the part. Looking at her right now, with her wild hair and the long t-shirt that she wears for a nightgown, she could pass for a teenager. More than a few times, people have mistaken Mom and I as sisters, rather than mother and daughter.

Then Mom sees the carnage of dirty pans and bowls in the kitchen. “Has the Dipster been up already?” she asks me, now more awake.

“No, that was me,” I admit. “I wanted to surprise him with Uncle’s Day breakfast in bed. I brought it in to him a few minutes ago.”

“Oh! Isn’t that nice!” Mom perks up, giving me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head. “Well in that case, maybe I’d better skeedaddle in there and steal some for myself!” She starts down the hallway.

“Wait!” I call out. “You need to knock first. He-” I swallow down my embarrassment as Mom stops to look at me curiously. “I didn’t see anything, ‘cause he was under the bedsheet, but … he says he’s kinda …  _naked …_ in your bed.” I feel myself blush again.

For an instant, Mom makes a strange face. Kind of worry and funny combined into one. Then she smirks. “Really?” she says. “Well I guess after you surprised him, you got a bit of a surprise in return! The bashful broseph had better fix that, pronto!” She strides down and pounds on the bedroom door, smiling broadly. “Good morning Bro-bro! You’d better be decent now! You finished traumatising your niece?”

The door opens, revealing a red-faced UncleDip. He’s wearing his boxers, and rubbing the back of his neck vigorously. “Yeah … I didn’t mean to …” He glances at Mom, and she just looks  _way_ too happy to see her twin brother so uncomfortable. She’s making me feel sorry for the big dork! He glances at me, then lowers his gaze. “I’m sorry, Cassie. I know that was pretty weird for you. I tried to … you know …”

Seeing UncleDip all cringed up helps me get over my awkward feelings pretty quick. I smirk in way that probably looks an awful lot like Mom’s. “It’s okay, I get it!” I tell him. “Go finish your breakfast in bed. Mom, as long as you’re up, can you get the coffee maker out of the cupboard? I think UncleDip needs it!”

“It’ll cost you!” she fires back with a grin. “How about you make some pancakes for your dear decrepit mother, too?” She starts hobbling around stiffly. “So old! Need so much help at my advanced age!”

I roll my eyes. “Mo-om! You’re  _not_  old! You’re, what … twenty-six?”

“Twenty- _seven!_ ” she huffs. “Twenty- _eight_  in just a couple of months, I’ll have you know!” She stoops over, putting a hand dramatically on her back. “Ooooh! Everything hurts!”

“Mom, you had your turn last month on Mother’s Day!” I scold her, as she continues to slowly shuffle around a chuckling UncleDip in a circle. I throw up my hands. “Okay  _fine!_ ” I cry out in mock despair, and I turn around and march towards the kitchen. I can hear Mom dancing in celebration behind me. “Can you at least bring me  _my_  pancakes from your room?” I call over my shoulder.

“Okee Dokee!” I hear Mom reply behind me.

I put the pan back on the stove and start mixing a new batch of pancakes. As I’m measuring milk into the mixing bowl, Mom breezes in. “Go ahead and eat, Kiddo,” she says with a grin as she offers me my plate. “I’ll take over from here.”

“Thanks,” I reply. My stack is a little cold now, but I still shovel in a big mouthful. “I’m  _so_  glad you taught me the recipe for these, Mom!” I mumble with full cheeks. “These are the best pancakes  _ever!_ ”

Mom smiles as she cracks an egg. “You need to thank your Great-Grunkle Stan,” she says wistfully. “It’s his ‘Stancake’ recipe. One of these days, we’ll get you out to the west coast so you can finally meet him.”

I feel a lunge of excitement in my chest at the mention of my great-great-uncle, and the memories of the stories of adventure Mom and UncleDip have told me about their time as kids in Gravity Falls. “You think we might be able to go this summer?” I ask, hopeful that this might finally be the year.

“I don’t know,” Mom replies softly, in a tone that I’ve learned means she’s being completely honest. “It’s such a long way, and travel is so expensive …” She pauses her whisking of the pancake batter and puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’re really gonna try, okay? I promise!”

Even though I can tell she truly wants me to be able to go, she wouldn’t mention the expense unless we really couldn’t afford the trip. So I know there’s basically no chance. But I put on a smile anyways. “Thanks, Mom,” I say.

Mom returns the sad smile, then hands me the bowl. “Here. Start pouring these out while I get the coffee maker down.” I ladle out three small circles of batter as Mom retrieves and plugs in the small appliance. “Dipper needs his caffeine when you wake him up this early!” she jokes. “Otherwise he’ll be super-surly all morning.”

“Maybe we could just let him go back to sleep?” I ask.

“No can do,” Mom replies, shaking her head. “Now that he’s up, he needs to  _stay_  up! We’re go- …  we’re going over to Westfield to take your grandparents out for lunch today. It’s, you know … Father’s Day today for Grandpa, too.”

“Okay,” I say, aware of the sadness that just crept into Mom’s voice. She sounds like that every time she talks about Grandma and Grandpa. I know Mom and UncleDip don’t  _hate_  their parents, and I know my grandparents care about their only two children. But something is always off about the way they act around each other. I used to ask about what’s the matter, but I stopped asking a long time ago. For as long as I can remember there’s been  _something_  going on.

We continue to work in silence, me flipping pancakes and Mom preparing her own toast and UncleDip’s coffee. In no time, everything is ready. After she finishes reloading the tray, I see a playful expression form again on Mom’s face. “I think,” she says craftily, “that we should all finish up breakfast together on my bed. What d’ya say?”

I grin. “I say …  _last one there’s a rotten egg!_ ” I cry, grabbing my plate and taking off across the living room.

“Ack! No fair, I’m carrying hot coffee! I’ll get you” Mom yells back from behind me. I laugh, knowing she’ll never catch me, though she makes up ground as I fumble with the door handle.

UncleDip is munching on the last of his toast when we girls storm in, squealing and screeching happily. We manage to all pile onto Mom’s big bed safely without any major spills. UncleDip berates us for being so silly, but we make him smile after another kiss on the cheek from me and a nerdy secret handshake from Mom. One of those weird “twin things” they do, things that I admit sometimes that I wish I could do with a brother of my own. But then I immediately forget about things like stupid money problems and dumb family relationship stuff, as we start eating while chatting about my geography project, Mom’s latest craft sale success, and how we all wished the heat of summer hadn’t arrived quite so early.

I spend a lazy morning with my two favorite people in the world. I love them both so much, and I know they both love me, too.

What a great way to spend the morning, I think to myself. Things may not be perfect, but I’m still a pretty lucky kid!

* * *

Gnuuugh! This is … déjà vu! Seriously, it’s got to be!

I’m lying down on my side, struggling to cover my eyes from the bright light as I roll over onto my back. And I’m feeling that really nasty, really gross “awakened after a short daytime nap” feeling. Surely I’m not the only one who knows what this feels like? I groan under my breath and glance at my tablet beside me, to see that Stephanie sent me a Wave, and the dumb notification woke me up.

Somewhere in this, I figure out I’m in my room, on my bed. How did I get here? The last thing I remember was … Grandpa and Grandma’s house? No, the diner. Wait no, it was after that … we had said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma after that really nice lunch, and I was in our car. I must have fallen asleep in the backseat on our way home. Now that I think about it, getting up real early, having a full breakfast and a heavy lunch, and then the nice, rocking motions of the car ride after that … yup, that’ll put me to sleep every time!

I smack my lips and try to swallow down the stale taste in my mouth. My chest feels like someone’s sitting on it. Yuck! I hate this! I was feeling really good today, too! I even missed out on UncleDip carrying me up here! Maybe I’ll just go back to sleep. No, then I’ll never get up for school tomorrow. Nnnnggghhhh!!! After a long stretch, I force my body to a sitting position with all the grace of a zombie.

My grumpy condition requires someone to feel sorry for me, and I know Mom will be more than willing to sympathize. I deserve a nice big hug, I think, so I get to my feet and shuffle into the hallway as I scratch my scalp sleepily.

I lean into the living room. Nobody here. I meander into the opening to the kitchen alcove. Nobody here either. Hm! I want my hug! I know I’m being a big baby, but I don’t care. Mom will indulge me!

Staggering lightly back the other way down the hallway, I see the bathroom door is wide open, and the light is off. Sure enough, it’s empty as I pass by.

Only one place left where she can be. Her bedroom door is right in front of me, now. It’s mostly closed, but the opening is wide enough for the sun from her window to paint a narrow column of afternoon light across the floor and up the wall in the hallway.

I put up my hand to push the door open, but I stop when I hear Mom giggle quietly. What’s she laughing at?

Again I’m about to open the door, when I hear a soft gasp. Instantly I know that wasn’t Mom. Even though I’ve never heard him make a sound quite like that, I’m certain that it was made by UncleDip. What’s going on?

My brain is finally firing at something close to one hundred percent, and some instinct tells me to not barge in anymore. My palm is still raised, an inch from the surface of the door, but I don’t push it open. I can’t.

New sounds reach my ears from the other side. I hear fabric being rubbed and rustled. Like when you run hands roughly over clothes. Wait …  _What?_

Without even thinking, I ease my head towards the opening. Now there’s the sounds of tiny pants and moans, unmistakably being made by my mother and uncle. The only place I’ve ever heard noises like that was on shows with romance-y stuff! No way! It … can’t be! I have to be wrong!

My hand moves automatically, carefully and silently supporting myself on the door frame as my head moves towards the opening, and I peer into Mom’s room. I’m blinded for a moment by the brightness of the light from her window, but my vision immediately starts adjusting. Meanwhile, there’s no mistaking the soft smacks of lips moving against one another.

As my eyes adjust, they reveal what my ears have already told me I’d see. Mom and UncleDip, standing and holding each other near the far wall … kissing one another!

I close my eyes for a second. Ohmygod I don’t believe this! What’s happening? Is this even real? My ears tell me yes, as the sounds of their passionate embrace continues. I look again, and yep … they’re kissing, all right! And not just any kiss: this is serious! Serious as in “bodies mashed together, hands touching all over, ewwww I can even see their tongues touching” serious!

Of course, I’ve seen kissy stuff on shows and movies before, even some more grown-up sexy stuff. But I’m completely not prepared for this! Mom … with UncleDip? They’re brother and sister! They’re best friends! They’re … they’re freaking  _Mom_ and  _UncleDip!_  This isn’t  _them!_  They don’t  _do_  this stuff! It’s just … not  _right!!_  But I’m so shocked by this, I can’t look away!

For how long I’ve been gawking at them, I don’t know. But I doubt I’ve breathed once since the peep show began, and my lungs signal that they’ve apparently had enough and I need oxygen immediately. I turn away from the door in a panic and lean against the wall as I take several huge heaving breaths as quietly and as slowly as I can, my heart pounding loudly in my ears.

The noises in the bedroom stop. Oh crap! Did they hear me? My adrenaline spikes, fear coursing through me. What’s going to happen to me when they find me out here, spying on them?

Then I hear UncleDip’s quiet voice, barely above a whisper. “I love you, Mabes,” he says.

“I love you, too,” I hear Mom coo back.

OK, they didn’t hear me! They just stopped to say they love each other. That’s a small relief. My racing heart slows a touch, but I’m still scared. Maybe I should-

Wait … they …  _love_ each other? I’ve heard them tell each other that before, but this sounded different!

I hear more kissing at this point, and their lovey noises are a bit faster. Then there’s a loud lip smack and Mom murmurs, “Dip, please! Cass is asleep! ! need you! Now!”

She  _needs_  him now? Needs him to do what?

Oh my god …  _no!_

A short pause. Then comes UncleDip’s whisper. “OK! Let me close the door.”

My heart leaps so high in my chest, I don’t know if I’ll ever swallow again! Never have I tip-toed so quickly in my life! I fly down the hallway to my room as fast and as silently as my stocking feet can get me there, ducking through my door a second before I hear Mom’s door snap shut, followed by the rarely-heard noise of the lock being turned.

I lean against the wall, panting raggedly. What the … what the  _hell?_  Are UncleDip and Mom really gonna …  _do_ it? As in …  _SEX?!_  Ew!  _EWWWWW!!!!!_  Mom’s given me the “how babies are made” talk, so I know exactly what it means. I’ve wondered what it might feel like for myself to do things like that. I’ve even managed to wrap my head around the icky idea that Mom has, at one time, done stuff like this with a boy in the past. After all, I’m here aren’t I? But I never expected to be faced with thinking about sex at a time like this!

What am I supposed to do now? Do I just sit here and wait for them to … finish up? Eechh, no! What if can hear them ….  _doing it?_ _GROSS!!_  This is all way too weird!

I want to run right out the door and get away! But I can’t just leave! I’ve never just walked out of the apartment onto the street by myself, not without at least telling Mom or UncleDip where I’m going. I sure as heck can’t start right now!

I compromise. I can’t leave, but I can remove myself as much as possible from what’s happening. I take my headphones and power them up as I put them over my ears. I crank the volume on my tablet, playing my music as loud as I can stand, and then curl up on my bed. I’m just going to ignore this whole thing for as long as I can!

* * *

I don’t know how much time goes by. At least a half hour, probably more. But at some point I see someone in the doorway out of the corner of my eye. I stop playback, pull my headphones off, and try to look casual as I raise my head. Mom’s standing there. She looks completely normal.

“Hey, Pumpkin Bumpkin! Have a nice nap?” she asks.

“Yeah. I just woke up,” I say. I’m not good at lying, but I have to be convincing today. How convincing will Mom be? I take a breath. “What were  _you_  doing while I was asleep?”

“Ah, you know!” she replies, crossing her arms and leaning against my dresser. “Just puttering around, starting to clean up after that big breakfast you made us.” She scratches an itch on the side of her nose. “Dipper was helping me fold our laundry in my room. Stuff like that, you know?”

Yeah sure. Stuff just like that. Right, Mom.

Not trusting myself to look her in the eye, I turn to my put my electronics back on the charge stand. “I think I’m gonna just work on my geography project. Can you close my door on your way out?”

“Sure thang!” she says, stepping closer to ruffle my hair. “Call me or UncleDip if you need any help, okay?” Then she walks out of my room, closing my door behind her.

Nothing! She not only lied about what she was doing, she’s acting like nothing weird happened at all!

I barely have a moment to contemplate this when there’s a quick knock. “Cass?” comes UncleDip’s voice.

“Yeah?” I call back, unable to say anything different.

UncleDip cracks open the door just enough to poke his head through. “I’m going down to the market. Any requests for dinner tonight? It’s my turn to cook.”

Again, nothing! He’s completely … normal! No sign at all! If I hadn’t overheard what happened, I’d never know!

“S’okay, UncleDip,” I tell him, attempting to sound like my normal self. “I’m good with whatever.”

UncleDip waves, his smile warm and genuine. “Okay! Work hard. And I love you!”

I don’t know what to say to either of them right now. Thankfully, he closes the door before I can allow myself to say anything more.

* * *

I actually make progress on drawing the map of Africa I’m working on. I don’t know how, because my brain is busy thinking about something entirely different.

Incest.

It’s such an ugly word. As ugly as what it means. I know what it is, mainly hearing about it on TV and the Internet, but I’ve heard kids at school mention it too. It’s not right. It’s illegal. There are lots of jokes and insults about people who like to … have  _sex_ … with their own  _relatives_. They’re really stupid or retarded. Or it’s abusive, someone who takes advantage of another family member who’s weaker than themselves. Everything about it is unnatural! It’s disgusting!

My first instinct is denial. Maybe I misunderstood what I saw and heard. Maybe there’s another explanation!

Yeah … no. What I saw and heard was pretty darned self-explanatory.

If I can’t deny what I saw, I desperately reach for any other reason to explain what they were doing. Maybe … maybe they aren’t really brother and sister! If they aren’t related, what they just did would be okay, right?

But  _of course_  they’re brother and sister! They’re twins! They have pictures and videos of themselves as kids and teenagers together. Grandma has shown me all kinds of other pictures of them too, right from the day they were born.

So that’s it. Incest. It’s  _exactly_ what Mom and UncleDip are doing! I accept this fact as I pick up my colored pencils and begin shading countries.

How could they do this? Don’t they  _know_  they shouldn’t do this? Even  _I_  know how wrong it is! Are they that  _stupid?_  I’ve always thought they were so smart, but … how can they be if they’re doing this? Maybe that’s why we’re so poor all the time! Are Mom and UncleDip too dumb to get good jobs?

And how long has this been going on? It didn’t look like today was their first time doing stuff like that. They were way too comfortable with what they were doing. I’ll bet they’ve been doing this for awhile. I think about clues that have been staring me in the face all along. They both keep all their clothes in Mom’s room, so they probably have been undressed in the same room lots of times. When I’ve gone in there any day in the morning, Mom always sleeps on the left side, but when UncleDip is there he sleeps on the right side. I’ll bet they share Mom’s bed all the time, since I’m rarely awake when one of them pulls out the sofa. I’ll bet that’s why UncleDip was naked this morning! They’ve been sneaking around and lying to me for a long time!

I feel myself get angrier by the minute, the more I think about it. My pencil presses harder into the paper with each stroke of color. This is really …  _shitty_  … of them! They’re being disgusting and perverted, right down the hall from me. Don’t they care? This is awful! What if Stephanie finds out? What will she think? What about all the other kids at school? Or my teachers? Or Grandma and Grandpa?

My blood runs cold as I think of my grandparents. They must know! More pieces start falling into place. This would explain the tension that is always between them! Grandpa and Grandma found out about what they do, and must have told them to stop. UncleDip and Mom must have said no.

Is that why they both left home in Westfield when they finished high school? Could they really have been doing this for that long? If so, it would explain a lot. Mom and UncleDip are old, but they’re not _old_. I’ve kind of wondered why UncleDip and Mom never go out on any dates, why they never seem to want to find a girlfriend or boyfriend. If I’m right about this, then they’ve been doing this since I was two. That’s nine  _years_!

This has to have been so hard on Grandma and Grandpa! Their children decide to start a gross relationship together, and what were they supposed to do? Just tell them to go ahead? I’m sure they fought a lot. And then there was me, I was still a toddler. They had to watch Mom walk out of their house and pull me with them. I wonder if they wanted to keep me away from all this? Could they have tried to keep me? And should I think about living with them instead, now that I know? Surely they’d take me in! It would probably be good if they did!

The lead snaps on the red pencil I’m using, and I don’t even slow down as I pick up a purple one and start in on another country.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am about needing to get away from my mother and uncle. What kind of people have I been living with? Is it safe for me here? If my uncle could do this with his sister, might he also want to try … with  _me?_  I would never want that!

Would Mom protect me? I want to believe she would, but obviously she’s got issues! I’ve never wanted to think too hard about this, but she’s not got a great history of being responsible in the sex department. I did the math a long time ago, and she had to have been only  _fifteen_  when she got pregnant with me! She went to a party when they lived in California, got drunk, and some guy took advantage of her. If she let that happen, then she’s not the best person to-

Woah! Who says that’s  _really_  what happened to Mom in California? I mean, this is what Mom has always told me! But I only have her word that the story is true, and now I’m pretty sure now that she’s been lying to me for years. She’s never had any information about who my father is, never been able to describe a single thing about him. What he looked like. How old he was. Even a first name! She says she was drunk, but I’ve never seen her get drunk in my life. And also, she never went to anyone else who was at the party to ask about the guy? Then or since? And UncleDip didn’t either? They’re the biggest mystery-solving nerds I’ve ever seen, and together they found nothing? Finding out who the father of your child is seems like a pretty important thing that Mom would have wanted to know, if it was possible to find out. I feel like an idiot for never noticing this, but I’ve never had reason to question anything about my past until now.

So the story doesn’t make sense. It could very well be that Mom made up the story. But why? The only reason I can think of is to hide the identity of the baby’s father. So maybe Mom  _does_  know who the father is! I wonder wh-

… Wait …

My pencil stops moving. All thought of working on the map has completely disappeared now.

No … no  _way_  …

I was thinking that Mom and UncleDip have been “involved” since I was two years old. What if- … What if it’s been even longer? What if they’ve been doing this since before they moved to New Jersey?

What if …

I turn my head to the mirror on my wall. Lifting the bangs off of my forehead, I expose my Cassiopeia-shaped birthmark. The location for a birthmark that I’ve been  _told_  runs in the Pines family … even though I’ve only ever  _seen_  a similar birthmark on just one other family member.

… What if …

* * *

There’s a light tap at my door. I recognize the speed and pattern, and I know who it is. I glance at my tablet, and see that it’s half past eleven at night. I should have expected this. The tap comes again. I hear a soft voice through the door. “Cassie?”

I sigh and sit up on the side of my bed. “Yeah?” I reply.

UncleDip eases the door open. “I saw your light on under the door. Why are you still up? You’ve got school tomorrow.”

I look at him intently. He looks and acts like the same UncleDip I’ve known my whole life. Earlier this evening, when I came out for dinner, he was the same. A bit later when I came out for a drink of milk, and I found him and Mom relaxed on the sofa watching TV, he was the same. So was Mom. And she was the same when she said goodnight to me almost two hours ago.

UncleDip slowly comes in. “Cass?” he asks. “What’s the matter?” He closes my door behind him, steps around the fan that’s blowing air towards the bed, and sits down on the mattress near me. “You’ve been really quiet since you woke up from that nap today.” He’s concerned. Of course he is. UncleDip has always cared about me. My gaze wavers.

He puts his hand on my back. “Hey. I know Mom’s gone to bed already, but … I’m here …” He’s awkward, because he knows that Mom usually handles the deep stuff. “You wanna talk?”

This isn’t what I wanted to happen, not now. I had figured I’d try to quietly research some more, just to see if I could be sure.

But I feel the dam breaking. I can’t look him in the eye, but I also can’t stop my mouth from moving.

“… Are … are you my father?” I ask weakly.

There’s silence for a moment beside me. I feel his palm twitch on my back. Then he inhales sharply, followed by light ragged gasps. “Wh- why would you ask that, Cass?” he stammers.

I stare at the wall. I’m biting my lip, but I don’t back down. “Is it true?” My voice is shaky.

His hand pulls away. “Cassie, I don’t think we shou-”

“I  _saw_  you two this afternoon!” I snap quietly, mustering all the courage of my conviction. “You were hugging and kissing. You were touching each other all over. You closed the door … and then you had  _sex_ , didn’t you?” I finally force myself to glance at him again. I’ve never seen him look so frightened. “Are you my father? ... Yes ... or no?” Some of the anger from this afternoon is back. So is the anxiety. I need to know, one way or the other.

UncleDip swallows hard. He’s trembling, his breathing fast and shallow. He looking everywhere but at me. I know him well enough to know that he’s thinking about all his options, trying to figure out in his head as quickly as possible what is the best thing to do.

Finally, with one deep breath, he focuses on me. For a long moment he’s as rigid as stone. So am I.

“I  _am_  your uncle, Cassie …” he says in a voice so soft I can barely hear him. Then, he nods almost imperceptibly. “But yeah … I’m also your father.”

There it is! Everything I suspected is real! He admitted it!

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel now. There’s the anger and betrayal that I’d been nursing this afternoon. There’s other feelings about … well, about what all this means about  _me_ … that has crept in as well. And sure enough, I feel that pieces of these emotions are churning away in my stomach.

But they don’t explode. I don’t let them.

He’s speaking to me again. “I’m sorry we haven’t told you before. We’ve …. always planned to tell you. Just … when you were a little older, you know?”

I just sit here, my brain going a mile a minute, staring into the face of a man who I’ve known and trusted my entire life. This is a mind-blowing admission! He’s different, isn’t he? Everything’s different! Right? Hasn’t everything changed?

“But you know why we couldn’t risk telling you, don’t you?” he continues. “You know why we have to keep all this a secret?”

I nod absently. Of course I get it. Because it’s embarrassing! It’s wrong! Brothers and sisters aren’t supposed to have children. Because they’d be born freaks! They’d be deformed, and retarded!

But doesn’t that mean that …  _I’m_  the same way?

For hours now, I’ve been resisting accepting my theory that UncleDip is my father, mainly for this reason. I always thought I was, you know, pretty  _normal_. As I’ve been thinking about all this stuff this evening, I’ve been holding onto my “ordinary-ness” as evidence that maybe I’ve been wrong in my suspicion.

But no. Turns out I  _am_ a freak, after all! I begin counting off everything that has set me apart. My weird fashion style. My loud, stupid laugh. The way I always question and argue about stuff in class. My obsession with history and old things. The need for my ugly glasses. And my ugly  _face_ , too! And of course, the gross birthmark. Let’s face it, I’m an inbred monster! I’ve been kidding myself, thinking I was like everyone else. No wonder I’m so-

“Hey,” UncleDip says gently. I flinch, rousing myself from my thoughts. I realize I was just staring off into space, probably looking like I might cry. Now the shame of what I am really hits me, and the tears begin for real. I want to sink into a hole.

But UncleDip is trying to help, I know he is. He knows exactly what’s spinning in my head, even though I haven’t said a word. “You’ve heard stories about this kind of thing, haven’t you?’ he asks. “You’re thinking that because your parents are related, there’s something wrong with  _you_. Aren’t you?” He’s doing his best to be soothing. I nod silently as I try to stifle my sobs, a tear dropping from my cheek onto my lap. He moves to kneel in front of me. “Cassie, those stories are exaggerated observations of genetics and birth defects. There are risks of development problems with the birth of  _every_ baby in this world. And yeah …  it’s true that there’s a  _higher_  risk of problems in children from a situation like ours, but it’s still unlikely for there to be anything wrong. And in your case, there  _isn’t_  anything wrong! You’re  _perfect_ , Cassie!”

That’s not what I’d figured. I just assumed that the things I’d heard about incest children were accurate. Do I trust he’s the one being truthful now? I sure want to trust him, but …

He reaches up to touch my face, something that’s a totally normal thing for him to do for as long as I can remember. But I flinch again. I don’t really mean to, but I still don’t know how I should feel about UncleDip anymore. This is all so strange!

He pulls back quickly, almost like I burned his hand. For an instant, I see his own hurt expression. He covers it up really quickly though, and straightens up to his feet. “Look, Cass … maybe you need your mom right now.” He starts towards the door. “I’ll … I’ll go get her-”

“No!” I say, loud enough to stop him in his tracks. “I want you to stay!” A part of me agrees with the suggestion that he go wake up Mom, and that part of me knows that I would feel …  _safer_  … with her here. But no, that only confirms that I’m a least a little afraid of UncleDip now, even if I don’t want to be. I’ve always hated being scared of anything, and I’m  _not_  going to be scared of UncleDip! I’m still averting my gaze, but I want him to explain to me what’s going on.

And he’s got a  _lot_  to explain before I feel any less icky about all of this!

Neither of us say anything for a long moment. He’s just standing in the middle of the room, probably feeling as super-awkward about this as I do. Finally, he clears his throat. “Can I just, I don’t know … talk to you about your mother and I?”

I force myself to look at him. Sure enough, he looks like the same old UncleDip. I relax a little and nod towards the foot of the bed.

He gives me a little smile and carefully sits down again, leaving a lot of space. He takes a couple of breaths. “Mabel and I …” he begins, “… we’ve told you before that we were  _super_ -close growing up. Sure, we both had other friends, Mabel more than me. But  _nobody_ else could ever be what we were to each other. I mean … I guess it was never spoken out loud, but there was never a question that … she was my  _best_  friend, and vice versa! We always had each other, from before we were even born! I don’t know any other brothers and sisters that had the kind of …  _connection_  … that we had when we were kids.”

Oh man, that actually … sounds kind of cool! I try to imagine having a brother who is such a close friend, someone who would always be with me, someone who I could always trust. Stephanie  _hates_ her brother, and most of my other friends who have brothers say the same thing! I’ve often wished for a little brother to be able to boss around or play with, but what UncleDip describes sounds amazing!

He shifts his position, hunching his shoulders slightly. “I wasn’t much older than you when I sort of realized that … I felt even  _more_ for Mabel … a  _lot_  more!” He looks at me sideways, looking kind of like he’s sorry. “You  _can’t_ know how it feels, and I can’t come close to describing it. There’s such a huge difference between what a normal family usually calls ‘love’, and the love that I felt for Mabel. I may have been only thirteen, but growing up together, sharing so much with her and experiencing so many crazy adventures with her … I just couldn’t imagine not  _being_ with her! I needed to protect her, I  _needed_ her to be happy!” He got a faraway look on his face. “And I needed to spend every moment I could with her, because being close to her made  _me_ happy, too. I didn’t just love her. I was  _in_  love with her!”

He’s right. I know that I’ve never felt anything like that for anyone. There have been a couple of boys in the last few years that I’ve wanted to be friends with, maybe a little closer friends than most of the other jerky boys in my school. But what he’s describing sounds  _way_  more intense than any of those feelings! I actually feel jealous, because I would love it for someone to feel like that for me. It sounds … really beautiful!

Wait … beautiful? Did I just think that UncleDip being in love with his own sister … is  _beautiful?_

There’s a long pause before he keeps going, his eyes glazing over. “I knew, of course, it was wrong to think that way about my sister. I thought … at first I just thought I was pretty screwed up. Then, after our second summer in Gravity Falls, I tried to get  _used_  to it. I stayed as close to her as I could, as close as I thought I could get away with, all through our freshman year in high school. But in the end, for almost two years, I didn’t say or do anything more than be a good  _brother_.” The way he says the word “brother”, he sounds so bitter and frustrated. “I had the most wonderful, the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world … she was  _right there_  next to me … and I couldn’t tell her how I felt! I honestly thought that I would spend my entire life like that …  _this close-_ ” he gestured into the air with his finger and thumb a millimeter apart “-to the relationship I wanted with Mabel, but never  _nearly_ close enough.”

I should be grossed out by hearing this. I mean, I’m listening to UncleDip telling me about how hard it was falling in love with  _Mom!_  Instead, my insides are squeezing in really tight, and I can feel myself wanting to cry.

“It was the end of Grade 9, late at night after she came home from the school prom. I didn’t go, since I didn’t see the point. The only girl I could possibly want to dance with was Mabel. She apparently didn’t have a great time, either. We were both talking and moping in her room … We ended up giving each other a hug. That was no big deal, we hugged a lot … but this one was really nice and close, we just hugged for a long time …” UncleDip drew a shaky breath, “… and then she whispered in my ear … that she  _loved_  me!” He sniffs, wiping at his eyes and nose with his hand, and turns his head back to me. “Your Mom was the brave one,” he continues, a lop-sided smile now spreading on his face. “I didn’t know it, but  _she_  was holding back the same kinds of feelings inside her, for almost as long as I was! When she said that, I was so blown away, I almost couldn’t tell her I loved her, too! But I managed, somehow. It was … it was the most important moment in my life! It was the moment I finally knew I would be with Mabel … no matter what the obstacles.”

Gosh darn it, I  _am_  crying now! A bunch of tears fall down my cheeks as my chest shakes. I run out of breath and gasp, then I start to sob quietly. I can’t help it! It’s so beautiful and sad! UncleDip grabs a tissue box from my dresser and hands it to me, after he pulls one out for himself. He blows his nose as I try to pull myself back together.

Soon I manage to get myself composed. UncleDip seems lost in his memories again. “Sorry, I’m okay now,” I say a bit unsteadily, pulling his attention back. “I’m ready.”

He looks back at me, a little weirdly. “Ready for what?” he asks.

I make a soft snort of disbelief. I wonder how UncleDip can be so dense sometimes, as I give my eyes another swipe with a fresh tissue. “For the rest of the story, of course!” I say. “What happened after that?”

UncleDip’s face gets really red, really fast. He rubs the back of his head and he looks down, his expression getting all dorky. What’s wrong with him  _now?_

“Uhh …” he says slowly, “… well … you know, that’s … I don’t know if I should …” He stops and clears his throat. After visibly bracing himself, he takes a deep breath and looks at me. “When two people love each other, they want to be  _closer_ to each other … First, it starts with hugging, then kissing …” His lips press together tightly, and he almost looks like he’s in pain. Then he closes his eyes and inhales again. “There are differences between the male and female bodies. As boys and girls get older, a lot happens to these different body parts, and they want to-”

I finally clue in to what UncleDip is trying to say, and I slam my palms to my ears and squeeze my eyes shut as fast as I can. “Ahh! Ew Ew! Quit it quit it quit it ewwwwww!” I wail, though I do try to keep my voice down. Did I really need to have him try explain how he and Mom got …  _together_ together? How could he think I would  _ever_  want to hear this? Yuck!! “Ohmygod gross, I can’t- UncleDip! Just … EWWY-EWWY-EWWWWWWWY-YYYAAGGGHHHHPPHHHTT!!” I finish, blurting out my disgust and shivering all over.

UncleDip looks for-real confused. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I wasn’t going- … I thought you said-”

“I already  _know_  how that stuff works,” I moan, interrupting him. “I  _really_  don’t want to know about how you and …  _Mom …_ BLAGH!!” I suppress another shiver that tries to run down my back. “No, I meant what happened  _after_  that? Like, with your relationship, and Grandpa and Grandma, and stuff.” I shake my head at him, amazed at how dumb he can be.

I see the relief practically pour out of him. “Oh!” he says sheepishly, then he looks thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, well …  _obviously_  we knew we couldn’t tell anyone about what we’d just discovered, certainly not Mom and Dad. But after so long holding our secrets inside ourselves, it was such an  _amazing_ thing to share our feelings with each other! I was almost desperate to spend every moment I could with her, to be as close as I could.

“But we still had exams on the last week of school,” he chuckles. “I think that was the  _worst_  set of exams I’ve ever written! But the next day after exams finished, we got back on the bus up to Gravity Falls for the third time.” He immediately looks embarrassed again. “Every year we visited up there, we always slept in the same room in the attic together. Well that year, we … we did a lot more than  _sleep_  up there all summer.”

My stomach turns. “UncleDiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!” I groan miserably.

He puts up his hands apologetically. “I’m only telling you because I want you to understand why things happened the way they did. Okay?” I grumble, but reluctantly nod. I want to hear this, and if I throw up, well then I guess I throw up.

UncleDip locks his hands together in his lap. “My point is that we had a lot of privacy and time together. More than we could have ever hoped, and  _way_  more than we have ever had at any time since! It was a lot of freedom to give to two kids who were still only fourteen years old. Both of us were just wishing that we could ignore the facts about our relationship, feeling like it was just us against the world. We were already close before all this happened. That summer, we became even  _closer_  than close. We became twins, best friends, and … well,  _lovers_  … all wrapped up in one.” He purses his lips and looks down. “It made things a lot harder when we went back home to California.”

I think I understand why. “Because you had to be a lot more careful about not getting caught,” I say, “and you couldn’t spend as much time together as you could before.”

“That’s right,” he nods. “We wanted to have everything we had when we were up North. So we took advantage of every opportunity we had. To be … you know … “ he lifts his locked hands up and squeezes them a few times, “…  _together._ ” I glare at him threateningly. He ignores it.

“And honestly we were really good at keeping it a secret. We never raised any suspicions.” Then he barks a stifled laugh. “But even without anyone ever catching on, over Christmas break that year … we kind of slipped up.” He flops his head down towards me and gives me a meaningful look.

I get it right away. “Mom got pregnant with me. Right?”

UncleDip nods again. “Yeah. We found out in March, just as we were all getting ready to leave for winter break vacation the next morning. It was a heck of a shock! We had to decid-” he cuts himself off, then starts again. “We knew that we couldn’t get through it without help, and we had to tell our parents.” He squirms awkwardly and looks away. “Telling Mom and Dad that night … telling them that Mabel was pregnant, and that I was the father … that was  _rough_ ,” he says, shaking his head slowly.

I wait for UncleDip to elaborate, but he just stops. My curiosity gets the better of me. “Were they …  _really_ mad?” I ask timidly.

“Oh yes,” he replies softly, and I don’t think I’ll get more out of him than that. I can’t help but wonder what happened, and I get a sense of why Mom and UncleDip have put up the barrier that exists between themselves and my grandparents. A chill runs down my spine.

“Anyways,” he continues, “we moved to New Jersey the summer before you were born. Your grandparents made darned sure we did our part to care for you. Your Mom and I had to work  _really_ hard. I had to get after-school and weekend jobs to earn as much money as I could to help out, while keeping my grades up. It seemed like I barely saw you at all your first two years growing up.” He tenses up. “But your Mom … she had to keep going to high school for two more years, even though she still took care of you as much as possible. She hardly ever got to do anything else. All your playing and learning, all the feeding and changing, from the moment she came home from school right through the night … she did  _everything_  she could. And she had to fit homework and sleep somewhere in there, too. I have no idea how much sleep  _either_ of us got during that time.”

That sounds  _terrible!_  I’ve seen television! Life is supposed to be  _fun_  when you go to high school!

Then he focuses back on me again. “I’m sorry, Cassie. Please don’t start being mad at Grandma and Grandpa, too. We shouldn’t really blame them for being so angry at what we did. Lots of parents would have just kicked us out, or sent one of us away. And with how old fashioned they are, they very easily could have done either one of those things. But they didn’t! They knew that it would be dangerous for the two of us in California. If Mabel stayed to give birth there, people could easily find out there was  _no_ wild party where Mabel got drunk and was taken advantage of, and they’d figure out that no one but me could have been the father. So we had to pack up and move really quickly. Dad had to ask his company to give him a worse job so he could be transferred to Newark, and Mom lost her entire career. They  _gave up_  a lot because of Mabel and me.”

I guess that makes sense. I’ve certainly always thought that my grandparents were nice people. I don’t want to think of them as mean.

“But still, the hardest part for us was …” UncleDip pauses and swallows, “… was that they forbid allowing us to be together at all.” He takes a deep breath, and lets it out. “We understood  _why_. We didn’t know anyone at all when we moved here, but Mom and Dad knew it wouldn’t stay that way. Neighbors, school friends, teachers, Dad’s co-workers …people would know that Mabel had a baby, and no one else could ever find out that I had anything to do with you being born. Plus … they didn’t really trust that we wouldn’t … you know,  _slip up_ again,” he quipped, a half-smile forming and quickly fading. “They  _forced_  us to only be brother and sister. I think they hoped that us being together was something that we’d outgrow, a mistake that wouldn’t ever happen again. I’m sure they thought we would find other people, and just be  _normal!_ ”

He shrugs exaggeratedly. “No such luck for them!  _You_ pulled us even closer together! For those two years, we poured everything we had into being the best parents we could for you. Working that hard every day, knowing it was for you, and for each other … it didn’t weaken our commitment to each other at all! If anything, we  _proved_ to each other that our relationship was more than … you know,  _physical_. It was  _love!_  After we got through high school, we knew that we loved each other more than ever!”

Oh my gosh … that’s sooooo … sooooooooooo …

More tears fall down my face again as I completely give in to what I feel is the truth. I believe him! I really believe him now! UncleDip and Mom aren’t just having sex with each other. They aren’t being gross or disgusting at all. They’re …  _in love!!_  They’re just in love with each other! And it’s so obvious now! Why couldn’t I see it?

And that also means they were truly in love when … when … when they  _made_  me! I really start to bawl happily now, as I hadn’t realized how insecure this had made me feel all evening. I wasn’t simply the end result of an act of perverted pleasure. I was created by two people out of their complete love for each other!

I cry for quite a while, while UncleDip holds me and rubs my back. There is no hint of fear or trepidation of him left inside me. I feel completely content and safe, knowing he’s protecting me. Eventually my sniffling calms down, and I wipe my face with a tissue again. I feel so much better now.

But why can’t everyone feel better, I wonder? “What about Grandma and Grandpa?” I mumble into UncleDip’s chest. “Don’t they understand any of this?”

He sighs in resignation. “I don’t think they’ll ever really accept how your mother and I feel for each other, so they’ll never be happy for us.” He takes me by my shoulders and holds me out at arm’s length so we can look at one another. “But we know, in their way, that they  _do_  still love us. And we know they love  _you_  very much, too!”

I bob my head, showing him I understand, but I’m struggling. This is a lot of stuff to dump on a kid all at once! And if I’m honest, I’m getting pretty sleepy. Even with that nap I had, this has been a really long, emotional day. But I’m determined to absorb all of this I can get. As long as I can convince UncleDip to keep talking about this-

UncleDip smirks at me. “I think you’ve had enough for tonight, Cass. Maybe you need to try to sleep?”

I slump. Darn it, I must have some really obvious thing I do when I’m tired, but trying not to  _look_ tired. I’ve got to find out what that is and work on that! I see UncleDip’s smirk get bigger. Ack! He knows exactly what I’m thinking, that I need to improve my acting game. And  _now_ he’s trying not to laugh! “Agh! Stop reading my mind! It’s not fair!” I cry out in half-serious frustration.

“Hey, it’s  _perfectly_  fair. It’s not my fault I know you so well.” he chuckles. Then he looks at me in that squishy “I love you Cassie” look I adore so much. “I  _should_  know you really well. After all …” his face twitches as his smile gets even bigger, “… you  _are_  my daughter!”

His daughter. He’s right, I am! And that’s still pretty weird to think about.

I’m trying to process all I’ve heard. It’s not often that your life gets turned completely upside down, and I know it’s going to take a while before I really get a handle on this. But one thing is for sure, and that is that I’m not disgusted by all of this. Not anymore. If I’m not freaking out about it, then I’ll take that as a good sign that I’ll get used to it.

He pats me on the shoulder. “What d’ya say we pick this back up in the morning?” he asks me gently. “I think we all need to call in sick tomorrow so we can stay home and discuss everything. I know your Mom will want to have a big talk with you about how you’re feeling about all this.”

I look up at him. “Is she going to be upset that I found out?”

“No! Of course not, Cass,” he reassures me. “But you’re learning all about this when you’re a lot younger than we hoped you’d be. It’s a pretty huge deal. There’s a lot more we have to tell you, to make sure you understand what all this means to our family.” He gives my shoulder a little shake. “Okay?”

“Okay,” I reply, a yawn escaping from my mouth. After I put my glasses on the night table, I crawl up to the top of my bed and pull back the thin sheet. UncleDip stands and leans over me as I put my head down on my pillow. He smiles his squishy smile again. “I love you, Cassie.  _Nothing_ about today changes anything about that. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”

“I know. I love you, too,” I sigh back, feeling sleepy now.

“Goodnight” he whispers. He places his lips gently on my forehead and gives me a long kiss on the spot he always kisses me. Right on my birthmark.

The birthmark I got from  _him!_  From my … father!

I really should say one more thing before I fall asleep. But I already feel so sluggish. What do I say …

He gets to his feet and picks up my tablet, putting it on its stand for me. “Almost midnight,” he mutters as he glances at the screen, and heads toward the door.

Almost midnight! It’s still Sunday! The perfect words come to me in an instant.

“Hey!” I exclaim weakly. He turns, and I lift my arms towards him. “Happy  _Father’s_  Day …  _Dad!_ ”

My father instantly is back and he’s hugging me really tight, and I hear and feel him start to cry. I hug and cry back until I can’t stop the fatigue from overtaking me. Still, I’m secure in the knowledge that no matter how weird this all is, or how strange his feelings are for Mom, my UncleDip is now the best  _Dad_  I could ever hope for. I feel myself slip away, safe and warm as he quietly holds me in his arms.

Best … Dad … ever ….


End file.
